At the Seville Fair and other celebrations in Andalusia, people take pride in drinking rebujito, a beverage so refreshing that The New York Times listed it in 2020 as “the best summer drink of all time.” By the way, this year some have even dared to create a rebujito ice cream for the occasion— we’ll tell you all about it here.
Although we proudly champion this fairground nectar, the people of Seville weren’t the first to create the rebujito; its origin and history lie elsewhere. This mix, so popular at the Feria, has Anglo-Saxon roots and goes by the name of sherry cobbler.
The origin of the rebujito: the theory of the pharmacists from Granada
In Spain, the idea is attributed to some pharmacists from Granada. In the 1980s, the “La Rebotica” booth at the Corpus Fair ran out of drinks, and this group of visionaries had a brilliant idea. They tried some bottles of sherry from the previous year, which wasn’t in good condition, and to improve the taste, they added 7UP.
Basically, the first thing they came up with. Against all odds, the drink was a hit and began to gain popularity. According to this theory, rebujito comes from “rebujo, “ a wine mixed with sugar and carbonated water, typical of Huelva.
From Victorian London to the Real: the ancestor of the rebujito
The answer, against all odds, is no. This refreshing concoction has its origins in 19th-century Victorian England. The Sherry Cobbler is the predecessor of the rebujito. It is a cocktail made with sherry, soda, sugar, and a slice of orange. In this way, the sherry would be the manzanilla; the soda and sugar, the Sprite; and the orange, the mint?
We admit it’s not a 100% fair comparison, but we can certainly think of the sherry cobbler as the grandfather of the rebujito.
This isn’t the only example we’ve imported and adapted in Spain. For example, in Jerez, candié is very typical, made with oloroso wine and an egg with sugar.
A phonetic evolution of “candy egg” and just one example of the dozens of neologisms that Andalusian Spanish has created from words of Anglo-Saxon origin. In this article, we take a look at the history of these words that, surprisingly, have their roots in English. With this, we may soon hear someone refer to our beloved traditional rebujito as a “cherricoble.”
Rebujito, recognized by the RAE
In 2021, the RAE accepted “rebujito” as a word and added it to the Dictionary of the Spanish Language. The new edition, unveiled in Madrid, thus includes a widely used term that refers to the well-known drink of Andalusian origin.
Until then, “rebujito” was one of those words we use naturally and frequently in everyday life but which, for one reason or another, isn’t recognized by the RAE.
The rebujito has transcended the tents of the fairgrounds to become a symbol of the festive identity of the south. Whether under its current name or recalling its British roots, this concoction continues to evolve.
Be that as it may, its ability to bring people together, glass in hand, proves that, regardless of its origin, the rebujito already has an eternal place in the emotional heritage of Andalusia.
